Archive for July, 2012

I suffer from my fair share of Bollywooditis. That makes me just one of the billions of Bollywood fans in this world 😐

B-U-T. I’m also from that teeny tiny minority that likes to watch films not for the action in the foreground but for the setting, the background, the outfits, the floor!!! I check out the photo frames hanging on the walls or the type of upholstery in a drawing room. I like to know what curtains are being used or whether they compliment the female leads’ outfit in that particular screen.

In all my years, only a few handful people have shared my hobby, like my friend CG. I know that after she watches a movie, I can safely ask her the colour of the tile in the hero’s bathroom and she would know!!! (We are far too observant for our own good 😐 ). I have a couple of friends who are a treasure-chest of Bollywood trivia, ones who can narrate the dialogues from scenes by heart! Sadly, I’m not at that level yet 😦

Anyhow, so when I saw this book up for review on Blogadda, I simply HAD to grab it! I mean, the cover has Gabbar, Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh on it!! Not to mention, gloriously bouffanted Sharmila Tagore (wielding a gun, no less) and the self deprecatingly smirking Aamir (that too, one from his always-wear-a-jacket phase! By the way, did you know that in those days, wearing a jacket was the quickest way for a hero to potray a bulkier form? Thin, lanky heroes used jackets by the dozens. Anil Kapoor (in action films), SRK and Aamir were barely separable from their’s. Salman had his phase, before he decided to start building a real body. After that, forget jackets, even shirts couldn’t linger on his frame for long !). Forgive me that slight diversion. It’s the effect of this book 😀

The best part about Kitnay aadmi Thay is that it isn’t really a collection of ‘trivia’.

It is a collection of some of the best filmi memories, his (I have my own collection, but his collection is pretty close to mine, so no complaints 😀 ). There is no index to the book, because the best way to read it is to dive right in. Open at any page and you’ll be sure to get absorbed .The book contains sections on possibly all cliché characters (Maa, Baap, Dost, Teacher, Killer, etc..). Heck, it contains a sections for the Bollywood clichés by itself!

If some sections bring a smile to your face while memories from some deep recesses struggle to rush out, there are others which will have you chortling out loud. Sample this :-

Smile : “Aamir Khan played football without touching the ball in one hilarious sequence in Andaz Apna Apna, where he described his sporting exploits to demonstrate the return of his truant memory. As a star forward for Mohan Bagan, he claimed to have scored six goals in a match and he recreated the magic in a jiffy by rearranging mocktail glasses on a coffee table.”

Easily, this is one memory which definitely brings a smile on our face, not just because we remember the wild hilarity of that particular sequence, but also, because we know what comes next 🙂

Laugh : “…..Rani Mukherjee recited verses from Jibanananda Das – a famous Bengali poet- in her Juhu-acented Bengali and broke many hearts by dying soon afterwards.

Note : Contrary to popular belief (emanating from promos-seen by considerably more people than the film itself), Rani Mukherjee was raped and killed in the post-Partition riots and did not die from Kamal biting her on the bum.”

😀 😀 😀

Diptakirti barely leaves any Bollywood-defining stereotypes alone! There are sections for the portrayal of Parsis, Punjabis, the South Indians and the Bengalis in Bollywood movies. There is another section for regional actors who made in big in Bollywood, and those that didn’t. Which brings us to the lists of actors who came up on their own, without filmi-backgrounds, there are star kids who made it big and those that didn’t. You can read about the influence of a myriad of fields on Bollywood. Cricket? Check.Other Sports? Check. Doctors? Check. Trains? Check.Authors? Check.Diseases? Check. locations? Check.Religions? Check.

The book, in my opinion, should be relished while seated on a comfy sofa, near the window, with a cup of hot tea and the rains outside. Thats the only way to enjoy stuff that is so much a part of our childhood.

The best part??

The list of Amul dedications. There are many more out there, but the ones in the book are heart-warming too.

So do grab a copy and read it. I’m sure that once you’ve turned over the last page, you would immediately want a sequel 😀 (I know I did 🙂 🙂 🙂 )

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Forgive me my recent absence from the blogosphere. It is not that I suffered from writer’s block or anything.

Its just that too much has been happening lately and though my mind is full of stuff to write about, my fingers barely comply (sounds familiar 😐 !! Have I used this line before?!!)

The kids have been on their rampant best. Mom is in town and though I would like to spend as much time with her as possible, my visits to her were relegated to just weekend visits. The kids cooperated by promptly falling ill each weekend. Visits to the ped’s clinic took up most of my weekends. Mom, though a bit upset at the lack of time we have for her, cheered up each time we did make an appearance!

The twins have been bonding BIG time with their cousins (Aapa’s kids). Its sad that though in the same town, I dont get the chance to visit her often 😦 . Still, the weekends were great. The twins still clamor to go back to Nanijaan’s place because they’ll get to play with Baby Simrah and Big Bhaiya Bojo. Getting them ready for school this morning was a struggle in itself. Shobs refused to believe that Baby Simrah is no longer at Nanijaan’s place and has gone back to her own house. So adamant was he that I had to take him on a quick trip to Mom’s place and show him that the baby was indeed not there. The little detective in him grumbled as he surveyed all the rooms and then resignedly admitted that his beloved cousin sister wasn’t around!! Only then did he oblige and get dressed for school once we came back home 😐

Lui has been on impeccable manners recently. I’m half-suspicious someone’s taken over my daughter’s spirit 😐 !! I mean, no tantrum in ONE WHOLE WEEK!!! Am I hallucinating or what?!! Somehow, her good manners, though a relief, are a little dampening. We are too used to her spicy self most of the time 😦 . Docility doesn’t suit her at all!! She isn’t meant to be meek! I’d rather have my eye-brow waggling, nose wiggling, zillion-expressions-per-minute baby back. Thank you very much!

Other than these minor quibbles on the home front, I’ve been meaning to write a lot on topics popping up in the news these days. Surprisingly, the bad news kept popping up so frequently (each one worse than the previous) and left me so appalled that I’ve been unable to put two coherent thoughts together. Thankfully, there are people who are doing a much better job of venting the outrage that I feel. For the record, I’m talking about all those news reports of baby girls being dumped in fields (thanks but no thanks SMJ 😦 , we really don’t like our baby girls enough to keep them ), girls being molested in public by mobs and the stripping of dignity of an athlete by the very institution that is meant to protect it. It is anger, it is hurt and it is fear that I feel…because I have to bring up a daughter in these very environs 😐 . Short of keeping her locked up at home for the rest of her life, I see no immediate solution in sight 😐

(I would have provided links to the articles written by others, but alas, WordPress isn’t allowing me to paste anything on this tiny box into which I type this post).

Anyhow, life goes on, even if me and the twins have a persistent cough that refuses to abate…no amount of home remedies, medications and soups help. I’ve stopped all medication for now. Only warm water and 3 minutes of steaming before sleeping, for the kids as well as me. Hopefully, it should bring some relief.

On that note, hope you all had a great weekend and have a better week coming up 🙂

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I remember posting a few months back about my weight gain issues and my lack of initiative to lose any of it.
I also remember asking people to remind me about the work-outs I had planned (really?!!)
Barring a few, no one bothered to 😦
Last week I posted a few pics from the cookery competition I was a part of. People commented that I looked rather slim for a mother of twins. Aaah!! But that was only half the truth. What many people DID NOT realize was that the snaps were cleverly clipped at the point where they showed the entire me !
Brilliant work, that. Especially since it came from a person who has never touched Photoshop!
B-U-T.
How long can one deceive? How far do untruths go? We all gotta wake up and smell the coffee, right?
So, was it any real surprise when I visited a pathology lab last week for a medical check-up (for my LIC policy) and found to my horror that I have *hold your breath* breached the 70 Kgs barrier 😯
But, here comes the REAL shocker!
I breached it by FIVE kgs!
So, forget my laments about hovering just above the 70kgs mark on the weighing scale. I, shamefully, stand at a mammoth 75kgs for a 157cm frame.
*hanging head*
I know, I know….no punishment is enough! I think I’ve become a nut. The one with the hard shell, of course. The kind of shell that doesn’t pierce easily 😐
So no laments from mother, no tender hints from the BF, no straight-faced truths from the twins nor the ever-changing measurements at the tailor’s have been instrumental in making me come to terms with the weight gain!!
Once more, I blatantly confess to my procrastination, my hopes of starting work-outs from ‘tomorrow’ and my resolve to give up on fried food and sweets asap.
Lies. All lies.
*Sigh*
Tell me, is there a cure for the mind?? I’m sure my body follows my mind. And my mind is rather weak right now. I can’t stick to a diet, I can’t follow a work-out routine, I’m lazy, hopeless and now, irrevocably FAT.
*plus, I love soaking in misery*
Can someone pull me out of this pool of pity??

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Life with RS & SS

"You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore... but let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you."
Author: Khalil Gibran
================
Aren't those lines beautiful?! Each time I mention that I have twins, I simply LOVE the way the words feel to my ears...as if, just saying it was a blessing (which it is).
Each day, each hour, minute,second is a blessing.
I cant even think of my life before you two....Its almost as if it all got wiped off and I started life afresh after you both arrived.
Me, as a mother was born the day you two did....and together, we grow, we learn, we love, we laugh, we live.